


Fortune

by BleedingCoffee



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Chess can be foreplay, Cockblocked by a tribble, F/M, Fix-it fic, Katrina Cornwell deserves to be happy, Twitter and Con Panels are fodder for fic, We deserve PrimeLorca, Who knew demateralizing in space-time was going to be a bigger threat than quicksand, shitpost science, the future is paved with sarcasm and sex jokes, this started as a simple funny Pike/Michael bedroom fluff fic and is now a rescue mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:29:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28922109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedingCoffee/pseuds/BleedingCoffee
Summary: Chris and Michael get together, which leads to a surprising discovery under his bed.   Which in turn leads to Discovery going on a rescue mission.
Relationships: Katrina Cornwell/Gabriel Lorca, Michael Burnham/Christopher Pike
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46





	1. Fortune Favors The Brave

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I’m back. Same week I post my first fic in this fandom, I decide to tackle one of the most popular things in Trekverse on my second: Tribbles. We saw that Tribble on Lorca's desk when he is first introduced in S01:E03 and it failed to be a integral part of the plot. Well...I can't have that. I also want Prime!Lorca and he might be headcanoned as Jason Issacs (Actually 100 percent chance of that.) I really want Karina Cornwell to be happy and alive. I also want Pike and Michael to be together and happy. So, here we are: making this all about my wants. 
> 
> This fic is written and will be posted in chapters as I double check some of my info by rewatching episodes. :)
> 
> I am not, in any way, even remotely close to knowledgeable about Star Trek. I got invested in one series and allowed Tumblr posts and Memory Alpha wiki to fill in the rest. Let's have some fun with this.

I’m going to avoid using MLA documentation and just plop some links to the inspiration for content contained in this chapter here: 

The Twitter username reference: <https://ansonmountdaily.tumblr.com/post/636297356021792768/captain-pikes-twitter-handle-build-interview>

The twitter comment that sent this fic off the rails: [ https://captainpikeachu.tumblr.com/post/182213704378/even-lorca-thinks-pikes-got-firm-buns ](https://captainpikeachu.tumblr.com/post/182213704378/even-lorca-thinks-pikes-got-firm-buns%C2%A0)

* * *

_Fortune_

Chapter 1

**Fortune Favors the Brave**

* * *

_ Crinkle. Crinkle. Crunch. _

“Do you hear that?” Chris asked as he thought heard something under the bed. He rubbed his eyes and listened carefully. Something, like a mouse, was crunching on something. His brain was doing a bang up job of forming intelligent words, he really had gone too long without sex. He shut his eyes to try and concentrate on what could have made that noise. He grew up in a farmhouse, mice in the walls and house were just to be expected, but this was a very tight, new starship. Mice didn't seem likely. Then again, this bedroom had been vacant a while. Maybe it just got comfortable? Maybe he was too comfortable to care? 

“Mmm?” Michael asked, groggily, as she squeezed his chest and readjusted her ear so it was over his heart. His heartbeat was steady, a perfect rhythm. It was grounding. “Mmm hmmm.”

He ran his fingers over her bare back as she snuggled closer and pressed her ear over his heart. He smiled ,kissed the back of her head and said softly into her hair. “I’m not asking if I’m still alive, although I appreciate you making sure you didn’t kill me.”

“Mmm.” She smiled and recalled the look on his face from earlier that made her worry she had broken the new captain by riding him into his bed and into orgasmic bliss. 

He should be happy she was too spent from their activities to even talk. Comfortable enough with him to sleep on his chest, clinging to him when he stirred. To say they ‘hit it off’ was the understatement of the century. He nestled his head back into his pillow and decided to let it go. Whatever was lurking under the bed was not important enough to move and wake her up, he was worried she’d bolt as soon as she was thinking clearly. Then again, Michael Burnham was the kind of woman who acted when she wanted something and he was, apparently, the something she wanted.

_ Crunch. Crinkle. Crunch.  _

Michael tensed and opened her eyes and looked up at Chris.

“You  _ heard _ it.” He said. The something, _was something_ afterall! 

_ Coo. Crinkle. Cooooooo. _

Chris winced. It was the coo, that  _ unmistakable _ coo. Cute. Fluffy. Trouble. “Wish I didn’t.”

“Was that…a Tribble?” Michael gasped and bolted upright.. “This is  _ Lorca’s _ bedroom.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure what to make of that reaction. Weird thing to relate to the undeniable sound of a fucking Tribble under the bed. “Also known as the  _ captain’s quarters _ , but sure, let’s call it Lorca’s bedroom while we’re naked in the bed he used to use.”

“You didn’t have them clean it out?” She asked and looked around the bed and cringed a little. She pulled the sheets around her as if they alone would separate her from the fact that she was naked in  _ Lorca’s _ bed. Cornwell used this bedroom for a while, but she had feeling for Lorca. She left things as they were, homage to the man she lost. Even if that wasn't _her_ Lorca, leaving things as-is was about the grieving process. Or maybe the guilt at not detecting the imposter.

“I _ just _ got here and calling housekeeping to check for monsters under the bed was not a priority.” He reached out to give her a reassuring squeeze on the arm. She looked back to him, conflicted, and he raised his eyebrows in an effort to prompt her to explain without actually asking for an explanation. He didn’t need one, he saw it in the way she covered herself up. Lorca took advantage of her. Just, apparently, _not here_ because she didn’t have a bad reaction to the room, just the revelation that it was his.

“You’ve been here for two weeks.” She said, and it wasn’t an accusation. Just a reminder that she just slept with her temporary captain after two weeks, maybe being disgusted by the previous occupant of the room was misdirected panic. Pike was temporary. He was interested. He was trusted by Spock and a genuine Starfleet legend for his integrity. She just wanted to enjoy herself. Especially after almost dying on the Hiawatha. Especially because he had come back for her and he got so close as she recuperated. It naturally built from a spark to a fire and she didn't want to think about it too much. Yet, here she was, thinking about it. 

“I fell asleep on the couch or in my ready room every night. I had a lot of work to catch up on.” He explained and kept rubbing her arm and ran his hand down to hers. He pulled it over and up to his mouth and hissed her knuckles. Reminding her that she was here  _ with him _ and the furniture didn’t matter, nor did it’s history. “I wasn’t expecting to use the bed anytime soon,  _ you _ jumped me during a game of chess.”

“I did not _ jump you _ .” She said and his eyebrows raised in his unspoken and adorable way of saying ‘bullshit’. She relaxed. She liked him, liked him a lot, and he had no idea what had happened on  _ Discover _ y prior to his arrival. Sure, the ‘official’ details were shared with him, but so much had been classified. So much had happened. “You...made your plays very open and honest. Then started with the chess similes... .”

“I owed you a simile.” He said and tugged her arm to try and coax her back over to him, reminding her that they really did have a good time. He got his ass kicked in chess but held his own with the plethora of chess smilies and metaphors thanks to all his leadership and management classes over the years. Way to go Starfleet, who knew that shit would actually improve his own morale? “And you were the one who went out of your way to use your queen to take my king, and then were _ really lewd _ when you said check _ mate _ . Then you jumped _me_.”

She found him irresistible. His smilies, his strategy, his honesty, and his understanding of the game didn't equate to him being a master of it. And his smile, and those eyes, and the way his shoulders were outlined by his shirt, and the way he played with the pieces between his fingers, and _him_. Every bit of _him_. Mind. Body, Soul. So she crawled back up to him as he lay against the pillow and kissed him, the  _ want  _ returning. It was illogical to get wrapped up in the history of a room on a starship. It was insignificant.

He groaned, pleased, as she let go of the sheets as she felt back on top of him. Laying over him, restoring the warmth of bodies and contentment that he was afraid was going to vanish, along with her. No, she genuinely found something in him she trusted and felt comfortable with. She also found a lot that she enjoyed touching and exploring. They were locked in a kiss, with her rubbing her hands over his chest when he heard it again. 

_ Crunch. Cooooo. Coooo _ . 

Chris groaned, annoyed. He could _not_ let that go. “Ok, let’s pause this until after we figure out if we’re going to be found in the morning by the crew, naked and entwined, entombed under a mountain of Tribbles.”

“That’s probably a legitimate concern.” She said and pouted as she sat up and immediately got cold when she got off his chest. He was also playful, something she wasn’t expecting. And extremely talented in bed. Another delightful surprise.

“You stay here, I’ll check it out.” He got out of bed quickly, not because he was bashful, but because it was hard to pry himself away from her.

“My hero.” She said as she checked him out and he rolled his eyes at her.

“How is it still alive?” He asked, trying to not pay attention to the way she looked at him: appraising and hungry. He slipped into his pajama pants before starting his investigation. He was _not_ crawling under there with his dick hanging out, just in case the little fluffy bastard was hungry and latched on to something dangling. 

“Foraging?” Michael offered.

“Lorca  _ was _ sloppy.” Chris said thoughtfully and grabbed a flashlight, then got on his knees in preparation to crawl under the bed. “I found old coffee cups growing mold everywhere in here. Glasses of scotch, left with just enough that you’d have to lick out the booze if you wanted it that bad. ”

_ Coo. Coo. _

“It sounds like it missed human contact.” Michael offered as she licked her lips watching him bend over, missing contact _with him_. He was beautiful, more so when he looked at her and smiled; dimples forming in his cheeks and those beautiful blue eyes shining with so much emotion and confidence. 

“It sounds hungry.” Chris countered as she laid down on the bed and propped her head up on her elbow. Watching him. He took a deep breath, working himself up to go under the bed and leave her. What an idiot he was, looking for a Tribble when Michael was laying there naked and contemplative, like she was cataloging everything on his body she wanted to lick. And he was crawling under the bed instead of the sheets.  _ Idiot _ .

She laid on the bed and looked at his perfect ass as he wiggled under the bed. She reached out and pet it. Something about him made her playful. “ _ I’m _ hungry again.”

“And I have a refractory period.” Chris snorted and got a handful of little white papers and plastic wrappers as she got a handful of his left butt cheek. He tried to concentrate and grabbed a package that hadn’t been opened. “Are these _fortune cookies_!?”

“His family had a fortune cookie company.” Michael said, now that she was past the shock of being in Lorca’s room she was able to logically comprehend that it meant nothing. She wasn’t here with him. Lorca left a lot of baggage behind and Chris had to wade through so much of it. He didn’t know and it didn’t matter. At least, until he asked why she reacted so poorly to the realization that captains do stay in the captain's chambers. A discussion she hoped to put off for later. Or never.

“Seriously?” Chris asked and as he crinkled the wrapper and a little cooing fur ball responded. “This little shit has been living off Lorca’s doomsday vault of fortune cookies? If it was eating…it was reproducing. ”

“Maybe he had it fixed?” She informed him. “Or else the Discovery would have been overrun with them by now.”

“Maybe fortune cookies have too little nutritional content for them to use the calories to reproduce. You can manage Tribbles by rationing food.” Chris flashed the light on a blob of fluff half in a box and half out of it. He grabbed the thing and it purred, then grabbed a handful of cookies as he wiggled back out from under the bed. Michael dragged her hand over his butt and back as he reemerged. Then she pet his head like he was a damned Tribble, smiling at him with that post-coital halo of contentment still around her face. He smirked and shoved the Tribble at her. 

“I don’t want that.” She shrieked.

“And I do?” He asked.

“Your room. Your bed. Your problem.  _ Captain _ .” He countered, laughing.

He tossed it, gently, at her anyway just to watch her jump and get an eyeful of naked Michael scrambling away from the hairy critter. “Does that statement include  _ everything _ in my bed?”

She looked at him, beautiful blue eyes sparkling with amusement as he dumped a handful of paper on the bed and continued watching her. “It just might.”

“Then the Tribble is my gift to you for winning all those chess matches. To the victor, go the spoils.” He said, knelt next to the bed, and started sorting through the mess of wrappers and fortunes, getting the attention of the Tribble who started, slowly, crawling toward him. Michael didn’t move to stop it. 

“My spoils were  _ you _ .” She said and patted the pillow. “And I won seven matches and I only got rewarded for one.”

He laughed and shook his head. Oh, this was  _ definitely _ going to be a fun relationship. “I believe that you orgasmed at least…”

“Not the point.” She interrupted, the smile on his face and the genuine joy in his eyes quelled any embarrassment from the fact that she had been very worked up by him. And worked over well by him. And they needed to be working back to doing it again. “Each win, equals a separate act.”

“Well in that case..” Chris started counting on his fingers. 

“Not a position or act.” She huffed as she thought about those fingers and how well he had used them. The dimples on that man just deepened as he grinned more. “Each specific _ time _ , designated by a distinct pause you call ‘refractory period’.”

“I have to say, I love how you negotiate and am not going to complain at all about the contract I entered into without realizing it.” He said. He looked at the fortune cookies in his hand and opened the package, calling the Tribble to the edge of the bed. He was hungry, so why not have a little snack? He opened the package, tossed half the cookie to Michael, took a bite of the rest and gave the Tribble the remaining. Then he looked at the fortune.

_ @strongsilenttype -- your firm buns fit my chair perfectly. _

He narrowed his eyes at that.  _ That _ had been something he had been called before, in a damned Starfleet meeting. One of those video conference calls he hated that were more like a séance than a meeting. Had it been Lorca? It was so hard to tell on those things, he could pull up the call record. “ _ Fortune _ cookies, huh?”

He handed Michael the fortune and she looked at it, read it, then looked at Chris wide-eyed. This was a fortune found under  _ his _ bed. Under his bed where he had just had sex with her. The bed that used to be Lorca’s. On the ship that used to be Lorca’s.

“So, uh, am I reading in to that too much?” He asked, knowing he was killing the mood that was brewing again. “A fortune cookie. _Fortunes_ , predicting the _future_?”

“They’re  _ cookies _ that have  _ vague prophecies _ in them that people misinterpret. Just like horoscopes.” Michael read it again and looked at Chris.  _ Strong silent type.  _ His photo was probably the picture in the dictionary as an example of that. And his buns were firm. And fit perfectly, everywhere, especially the Captain's chair. “It’s not logical to assume that it’s real. You read what you want in them.”

“Did we ever find out what happened to him? Our universe's Lorca?” Chris asked, hesitantly, as he picked up the Tribble and stood up. He was going to have to put the thing somewhere anyway, might as well make some casual conversation as he tried to find a container for it. He couldn’t resist petting it, and it purred. What kind of evil, mirror universe, imposter keeps a fluffy cute pet and a lifetime supply of fortune cookies under his bed? Who the hell has career choices of Starfleet Captain or fortune cookie entrepreneur? And, most importantly, ”And...what did the mirror universe Lorca do to you that made you react like there was an  _ actual monster  _ under the bed?”

Michael saw his eyes soften as he held the Tribble to his bare chest and pet it. It was purring loud enough she could hear it, and realized any chance of him petting her again tonight was slim. Not while the air was thick with questions, not when there were pounds of prophecies in boxes under the bed. “I’m told... he was a father figure to me until I got older and it became  _ more _ .”

“ _ Excuse me _ ?” Chris stopped petting the Tribble.

He was appalled and the Tribble even made a weird sound that sounded like it was vomiting. “The Terran me. Not me. But that version of me died and he went looking for a replacement.”

“In  _ another universe _ ? In _our_ universe?” Chris looked around the bedroom. Oh, all the furniture was getting burned and this place fumigated. Then it hit him. “ _ He _ brought you on board. He intercepted your prison transport. Your transport to a new prison that made no sense. ”

“He lost his Michael and sought to replace her with me.” Michael pulled the sheets around her. So much for not talking about this. 

“OK, this whole thing needs to be declassified immediately and I need to know everything. Not how I wanted this date to end, Michael. I hope to God you come back and wipe the floor with me in chess again so I can be further indebted to you for victories I need to paid for.” 

She smiled as he said that and got out of bed to find her clothes. She liked this about him, how quickly he could push aside his personal needs for professional need. She couldn’t be more enamored with him. “I should bring the Tribble down to the lab.”

“The lab where the last adorable space critter got used to make a magic mushroom highway?” He asked and pet the Tribble and it purred. “And it’s DNA somehow involved in an off books genetic experiment? Do you really want Staments zipping all over the galaxy, eating and reproducing uncontrollably?”

It was a joke, to apologize for their lives getting in the way of living. She gathered her clothes and went over to him and kissed him. His eyes lit up, comforted by the fact that she was not using this as an excuse to run away from this _ thing  _ they started. It only served to make her want him more. “This is just a pause in my attempts to collect what you owe me before you’re buried in debt, or _T_ __r_ ibbles _ .”

He smiled at her. “Oh the burden of being the  _ strong silent type _ .”

“Would you prefer ‘Captain Hot Piece of Ass’?”

“Depends on who’s addressing me.” He said with a wink and she kissed him again and the Tribble cooed. He shook his head. “Ok, I got to get rid of this thing.”

“I’m going to take a shower. And after I get dressed, I’ll take it off your hands.”

“I’ll wait until you do before I call Kat,” Chris got a single eyebrow raised at him for the familiarity of that and he quickly corrected himself, “  _ Admiral Cornwell _ , and ask for complete access to the ship’s files instead of the synopsis I got.”

“You should ask her about Lorca.” Michael suggested and the Tribble squeaked, as if it recognized it’s owner’s name. It was a happy squeak, he had been good to it. Then again all Tribbles did was eat and reproduce, so if he fed it , it loved him. A lot like Terrans, only two functions: kill and fuck. “They had a history.”

“Good. I can find out which version of him would compliment my ass and leave me cookies and prophecies under my bed.” Chris paused and bit his lip. “And it would be a good time to disclose that I’m having a relationship with my bridge officer.”

It was a question, directed at her; not in the way he said those words, but the way he looked at her. With the most genuine and beautiful, blue eyes she had ever looked into. He spoke volumes with a look. He was asking for a relationship. He didn’t say ‘having sex with’ because he wanted more. Because he was good and the _strong, silent type_. “Please do.”

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and the Tribble vibrated a little as it purred. Michael disappeared into the bathroom to clean up and he pet the little ball of fluff in agreement. “Yeah, buddy, I’m pretty happy about that too. What are we going to call you? Cockblock? Well that is probably going to raise too many questions, but between you and me, it’s the name you deserve.”


	2. Fortune Favors The Bold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rewatching Season 2 and, hot damn, was Pike flirty. 
> 
> I'm basing this fic after Season 2, episode 2. Seems like 2 weeks from Pike's arrival is generous considering this season was a rapid fire of events.

Some of the fortunes are from "Death of Stalin" <https://ansonmount.tumblr.com/post/622760607836438528/jason-isaacs-as-georgy-zhukov-the-death-of>

* * *

_ Fortune _

Chapter 2

**Fortune Favors the Bold**

* * *

  
  


“It was under the captain’s bed, eating fortune cookies.” Michael explained and was interrupted immediately as Tilly jumped off her bed and grabbed her by the shoulders. Why she thought she’d get through this without Tilly interrupting was just evidence that a few brain cells were not functioning correctly thanks to Chris and his magical fingers.

“I’m sorry, _you_ found this under the _captain’s_ _bed_?” Tilly asked as she looked at the cute little purring Tribble on her hands then looked back at her friend. “Captain _Pike’s_ bed?”

“Yes and..” Michael realized she slipped up. That was a ‘you’ as in ‘You, _Michael Burnham_ , were in _Pike’s_ bedroom Tribble hunting?’ “Tilly...”

“Did you fuck him through the mattress?” Tilly asked and squealed. 

“Tilly.”

Tilly saw Michael get flustered and took the Tribble and grinned at it. “And I bet they shook _ you _ loose from those cookie boxes you were hiding in, huh?”

“We were playing chess.” Michael said and Tilly laughed, knowingly, because of she could not suppress a small smile from forming on her face. Tilly read her like a book.

“ _ Strip _ chess?” 

“He lost.” Michael shrugged. Maybe t was a little bit of pride, maybe it was a need to share this with someone who loved her and had encouraged her. Maybe she was still reeling from the fact that she had so naturally started a relationship with the new Captain so soon after is arrival. 

“Oh, there were  _ no losers _ in this. None  _ at all _ .” Tilly walked over to the closet to get her uniform. It was back to work for her, which was just fine. She had tons to think about now. Oh god, Michael was glowing and it wasn’t because she finally got that pet she always wanted, she _got pet_ by the captain they all wanted. Life was good!!

“Captain Pike wishes to remind you, and everyone, that we do not experiment on Tribbles.” Michael knew this was pointless, trying to be professional. Tilly was giggling.

“Under the bed, huh?” Tilly asked and then put the Tribble on the desk where Michael stored her chess set. Her chess set _ that was missing _ because it was in Pike’s room. Holy shit! She pet the Tribble and it cooed. “We should call you Cockblock because you interrupted the queen from taking the king in their sex chess game.”

“Tilly..” Michael sighed. 

“Most powerful piece on the board, I bet he told you that. Does he call you his queen? Did you use his abs as the chess board?” Tilly rubbed her hands with delight. "I could not have written a better story."

“He did have a lot of metaphors, smilies and chess insight.” Michael admitted. 

“Chess as foreplay, well done Captain Perfect. Way to play her right into your bed.” Tilly said, got into her uniform and lifted up the Tribble. “And you interrupted them, Cockblock.”

Michael sighed. “Can we  _ not _ call it that?”

“Is this your first pet? Of course it is, I doubt Vulcans have pets. So you got this as a couple? Because he likes his pet horses and you can’t have them on a Starship? You can ride each other, I guess."

Michael smiled. Tilly wasn't really listening to her so she just sighed and waited; waited for the Tribble to have those reported 'calming effects' on the human nervous system.

"Are you moving in with him? Is that why you were cleaning out space under the bed? For all your...lack of stuff? Wait! You already moved! All you have is a chess set! Way to move in fast and checkmate that hot piece of ass!”

Michael took the Tribble as Tilly zippered her uniform jacket. “I’m sorry to drag you back to work when you were off duty. The Captain expressed concern that Staments might take it upon himself to add Tribble to his personal DNA collection. I’m also issuing a reminder that Tribbles eat  _ everything _ .”

“Eat and fuck. Yup. Got it.” Tilly said and zipped up her jacket and took the Tribble back. “I’ll Tribble-sit your little hairball, you get back to your game of exploring Pike’s bed and body for all the pieces you want to capture. Eat some fortune cookies and get right back to it. Eat and fuck, just like Cockblock’s modus operandi.”

“Tribbles are asexual.” Michael said.

“ _ A sexual  _ experience awaits you back in the Captain’s chambers.” Tilly countered. “Wait, you can tell a Tribble to go fuck itself and it will?”

“There was a fortune cookie, that Chris” Michael was trying so damned hard to get her back on track, but now it was evident her brain was nowhere near the tracks either. "That _Captain Pike_ found under the bed that sounded like Lorca left it for him knowing he would be the next captain.”

“Woah.  _ What? _ ” Tilly asked. “Lorca’s cockblocking him with his Tribble, from the dead,  _ and _ another universe? What  _ a bitch _ .”

“We’re not sure if it’s our missing Lorca or Terran Lorca.” Michael said just trying to stay on topic and talk through Tilly’s very colorful commentary. “Or just a coincidence.”

“What did it say?” Tilly asked and she scratched the Tribble and it vibrated with joy. It was so lovable! “The fortune?”

“ _ @strongsilenttype -- your firm buns fit my chair perfectly.”  _ Michael quoted.

Tilly held the Tribble to her chest and shook her head. “Oh no, that’s definitely about  _ our _ Pike.  _ Your _ Pike. Is Lorca trying to steal your boyfriend? I wonder what Mirror Pike was like. Can you imagine him using those dimples for evil?”

“What does it mean?” So much for Tribbles making people calmer, Tilly was on a roll. She shouldn’t have disturbed her as she was going to bed. 

“I mean, Lorca’s not wrong…”

Michael sighed. She needed someone to talk this out with, science wise. Chris was working on this problem from the personnel level, she needed science to provide answers. It wasn’t logical that a fortune cookie would turn up under the bed like that and actually mean something. “A piece of paper under his bed, from _ inside a cookie _ , predicted that Captain Pike would be in command of this ship. A box brought on board by Lorca. Before we knew of the signals. Before the Enterprise was disabled by them. Before the war even ended and the Enterprise was close enough to Discovery to even consider a new Captain.”

“Yeah, that’s all improbable. That odds are even higher of Captain Perfect being assigned to a  _ science _ ship. From the Enterprise? Captain Christopher ‘Pride of Starfleet’ Pike taking common of the Discovery? Odds are never. There is no way in hell they’d give us Starfleet’s finest. Not for a science ship. No matter what baggage and spore drives and mirror universe stuff we had. He’s great. Like beyond great. He’s managed to make us all love him in two weeks.”

Michael took a deep breath.

“Made  _ you _ love him in two weeks.”

“It was just chess, and sex.” Michael corrected her. 

“Not _ just _ . You came out of your shell with him and I thought that was going to take years. You two hit if off, immediately. He’s good for you. He’s trying to help us all heal from being betrayed and I am really happy to see you’re letting him.” Tilly moved past the subject of Ash as soon as Michael’s eyes looked away from her and at the floor. She pet the Tribble. “He doesn’t seem the casual, friends-with-benefits type, Pike. I guess he didn’t seem like the kind of guy to have Tribbles in his bedroom either, but you know, surprises.”

“He’s informing Admiral Cornwell that we’re dating.” Michael said, needing to vocalize it to make herself hear this was real. Because Tilly was her best friend and she just let the impact of that hit her. She needed reassurance that this was a rational step. That this wasn’t just rushing into something to avoid thinking about the pain of heartbreak or the disgust of Lorca’s intentions from the very beginning. Christopher Pike, a bona fide legendary captain, was informing Starfleet he was dating her, the mutineer. He was excited about dating her, wanting to declare it before it really got past a couple chess matches and sex. He was showing her how this was _way_ more to him than just sex. 

“Oh God, I  _ love _ that man.” Till said. “Perfect nail beds, perfect ass and perfect for you.”

“Can we focus on what this all means?”

“It means you’re going to be happy,” Tilly said and winked, “And satisfied.”

“With  _ the cookies _ .” Michael said, mission more important than her personal crisis. 

“He is a snack, forget the cookies. Eat him up.”

“The  _ fortune cookies! _ _ Lorca’s  _ fortune cookies. Lorca’s Tribble.”

“Maybe there is a bunch of fortunes in those boxes we’re meant to read? How cool would that be if all the answers to this signal stuff were right there under Pike’s bed and you guys found it because you fucked. A treasure-  _ a fucking fortune _ .”

“That would mean he would be leaving.” Michael said, as if that was the first rational thought she should be having. She didn’t mean to vocalize that. She didn’t go to his room today for a relationship, that just happened. She went because she was drawn to him, her brother trusted him and she just ached for the feeling of someone good. And Chris _ felt good _ . 

“Ok, no! That’s not where I was going with this. I really just wanted to have all those cookies come down to the lab so we can unwrap them and see what else is in there. Like a fortune teller?”

“That’s a good idea.”

“So you can go back to unwrapping Captain Sexy.”

“Tilly…”

“Look.” She said and waved her hand and the Tribble at her. “I’m not objectifying him, I’m appreciating the beauty of creation. Like a mountain or a supernova. Or the fact that my wonderful best friend found a guy she can be comfortable enough to play with Tribbles in the bedroom.”

Michael took a deep breath. 

Tilly giggled. “But seriously. You deserve the best and he seems really genuine.”

“He does.”

“So, I’m really excited for you. I’ve _been_ really excited for you.” Tilly admitted. “I wasn’t on the bridge when we found the _Hiawatha_ at the end of the rainbow of the first signal. _But_ Joann and Kayla said that you and Pike argued like an old married couple. Like, he was on his high horse about ‘not sitting out the war again, we don’t leave a man behind’ and you basically told him that if he just shut up you would have agreed with him. And then his pod got jacked up and you caught him in freefall, your bodies clinging together in the cold, cruel asteroid field. And then he came back without you and just was so panicked,  _ so beyond _ the ‘I left a man behind’ thing and had to get back to save you _himself_. I mean nobody even remembers that fuckboy Connelly, not even his captain. A captain who already knows everyone’s names on this ship, was like ‘talk shit to my girl, get hit with an asteroid’ and moved on.”

Michael raised her eyebrows. She wasn't sure what hit her hardest about this reiteration: the fact that everyone was watching _them_ or that Chris really did come back for _her._

“And then there was Terralysium," Tilly grinned. "And he chose you to go to church with while wearing something _ downright sinful. _ Of course I missed out on a lot of that because I was unconscious and also running around in a hospital gown being a fucking hero. But _you guys_ , Joann said  _ you guys _ spent a lot of time together talking about religion. Which is cool because that means you two will have stuff you can talk about, for like, forever. Intellectually stimulating conversation that will evolve into you pinning him down and shutting him up. I just want that for you so bad. Some honorable, loyal guy who will do stupid shit for you and nobody can stop him.”

“Thanks.” Michael felt a little overwhelmed with all the details. Everyone saw this before her.

“I mean he’s the captain so, nobody can stop him on his ship.” Tilly said. “Except Cockblock here.”

That snapped Michael back to reality. “We need a new name”

“Too late!”

* * *

“So, you read her in on this?” Chris asked as he carried the last box of cookies into Stament’s lab and set it down on the table. The Tribble was locked away in an isolation chamber, climbing the walls. It was locked away and safe, the important thing. 

“You mean the fact that you’re dating my best friend?” Tilly asked. “Or my best friend finally realized you’re dating her, which is more than likely the case.”

“I did.” Michael answered and Chris lifted his eyebrows asking which statement she was answering. Oh shit...were those missions _actual dates_? ”I read her in on the Tribble and cookies.”

“I talked to Admiral Cornwell.” Chris smiled, it was nice to hear Michael shared more than the mission with her confidant. He pointed at the Tribble slowly making it up the wall. “ _ That thing _ was definitely a Mirror Lorca purchase. The Lorca she knew didn’t have one, and she assumed the Lorca on Discovery had it as a therapy companion. You know, since his eyes bothered him and he had trauma from losing the  _ USS Buran _ , she didn’t question it. She thought it was healthy.”

“And the cookies?” Michael asked.

“That was an  _ our universe Lorca _ thing.” Chris sighed. Kat had choked up when talking about him, about  _ her _ Gabriel. That wasn’t like her, she was rock even in the worst storm. Lorca’s loss weighed on her. She had no closure, only guilt. “He gave them out to everyone, for as long as she knew him. These cookies had to be something Terran Lorca picked up after he took over the  _ Discovery _ because he wasn’t able to salvage anything from the  _ Buran. _ He had these  _ specifically  _ brought on board.”

“Terran Lorca.” Michael said sadly and took a deep breath. How was he still haunting them? "Was that all he needed to sell himself as the real Lorca? Cookies?"

“Kat’s calling his family. Getting some records about the cookie order. If he requested certain fortunes or not.” Chris informed them resisting the urge to reach out and squeeze Michael’s hand. 

“Which version of him thought you had a great ass?” Tilly asked and then got smacked for that by Michael. “ _ Sir _ .”

“Whoever had the fortunes printed.” He replied with a shrug. 

“Did you ever meet him?.” Michael asked.

“No.” Chris shook his head. “Different paths, different ships. I think he might have been on a conference call once, but I can’t remember when.”

“Listen, you don’t just make Starfleet’s top ten fuckable list without having people submit proof that you are…” Tilly got hit again and knew that one was going to leave a bruise. “I’m sorry, Michael, but your boyfriend wears his rank  _ really well _ . All his ranks.”

“So now what?” Chris asked.

“You two go back to ‘playing chess’ and I’ll watch the baby and analyze the cookies and paper.” Tilly looked at all the boxes. “Might recruit some friends, this is a lot of cookies to crack.”

“Ensign Tilly,” Chris sighed. “I think we need to keep this all between us for now. Lorca’s betrayal cut deep, and I don’t want to be picking at barely scabbed over scars by playing with Tribbles and tossing around fortune cookies and reminding everyone  _ of him. _ ”

“That’s really smart.  _ You’re _ really smart.” Tilly said. “I guess this all is distinctly him. However you are nothing like him, you proved that to us from the get-go.”

“First question.” Michael said and opened a box and pulled out a cookie. “Is how did we not get overrun with Tribbles when it had all this food?”

Tilly picked up a cookie and played with the wrapper. “Are they still crunchy?”

“Yes.” Chris said and grabbed a cookie to look at it. “Which is really impressive because every fortune cookie I have ever had on Earth was stale and that’s where these things were made.”

“So there was some special packaging to keep them fresh.” Michael said and looked over at the chamber with the Tribble. It was now on the ceiling. 

“So it took time for Cockblock to get it out of the wrapper.” Tilly said and winced before Michael could smack her. “Don’t hit me for that one! It’s just came out wrong.”

“Can we name it something else?” Michael asked.

“I mean…” Chris shrugged and looked at the thing stuck to the ceiling of the containment chamber. “It kinda already stuck.”

Tilly giggled and Chris laughed as he opened his cookie up and ate it. Michael sighed, Tilly did _not_ need encouragement especially from her _captain._ “What does your fortune say now?”

“That I’m the new Cockblock.” He mumbled through chewing, hearing the disapproving tone in her voice and knowing there was a discussion coming about how casual he could be around her friend. 

Tilly laughed and held up her hand for a high five. His smile said he was already in trouble for that and he wasn't sure how deep he wanted to dig his grave. Whatever. “Come on, captain,  _ hit it. _ ”

He gave in and high fived her and gave Michael a bashful apology for being inappropriate. “It actually says, ‘ _ All warfare is based on deception _ ’.”

“Boring, but also pretty accurate for Lorca.” Tilly said and opened hers. “ _ I’m smiling, but I’ll really fucking furious’ _ . Well...that’s kinda buffering and not a scary Terran kind of statement but Lorca was intimidating without being the full Terran kinda scary. I don't know? Can I put it in the 'maybe' pile?”

“What happened over there? In the Mirror Universe?” Chris asked and looked between the two of them. “My brief of the mission was lacking details. Cornwell won’t read me in  _ over a secure channel _ , wants to do it in person. It looks like ship records were erased. What the hell happened?”

“Well,” Tilly looked up at Michael and knew she didn’t want to talk about it so she said, “It was like a dominatrix dungeon filled with people who only knew how to be horny and kill. All familiar faces, but not familiar pastimes. Well, familiar faces and awful cosmetic selection and uniforms worse than your new Enterprise ones. I think it was less a uniform and more team colors and casual S&M Friday gear. Super dark, I was a Captain. I was captain of ISS Discovery, actually.”

“You will be a Captain some day.” He said softly, reassuringly, knowing she was enrolled in the command training program and working on that path. 

“Aww, you’re so sweet and encouraging and trying to make this all better.” Tilly said and ate her cookie. “But it can’t be made better. I mean, they’re horrible terrible people. It was too easy to play the part. To fake being Killy Tilly and treat everyone so horribly. It was a nightmare. Can we go back to talking about you guys? Like, that’s so fluffy and warm and wonderful and a dream and not a nightmare.”

“We’re dating so I suppose I should get approval from Michael’s best friend.” He said and Tilly’s face lit up. Oh, he had misjudged how many fresh wounds this crew still had. He’d focused on gaining their confidence, but he should have looked at ways to help them heal. If only he had known the extent of it. Kat was going to get an earful when she showed up.

“And, boy,  _ do I approve _ .” She said and ate her cookie. “Wow, these really  _ are _ super crunchy.”

“What if he is still over there?” Michael asked in horror. “What if we left  _ our Lorca _ over there?”

“Kat seems to think there is no way he could survive.” Chris replied. There was so much guilt here over things beyond their control. It made his heart hurt because helping was beyond his control too.

“And does she think he would send you that message?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. She genuinely thinks that he would have said it, _just like that_.” Chris admitted. “Do you think Bad Lorca would be happy someone was sitting in his chair?”

“Considering he wanted to sit on Georgiou's throne, I doubt it. No matter how tight your ass is.” Tilly covered her mouth. “Oh my God, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“Tilly, at this point I’m used to…” Chris rolled his eyes and in the process saw that Michael was looking tense. He looked back to Tilly. “Wait.  _ Georgiou _ ?  _ Phillipa _ Georgiou is a queen there?”

“Emperor.” Michael corrected him. He didn’t know the details. She wondered how much of that report was redacted, even for him. 

Tilly wondered if he even knew she was here, in their universe. She wisely didn’t ask and changed the topic. Thankfully babbling was her superpower. “She’s got a great ass too. Is that a requirement for captain? Is my ass good enough to sit in the chair?”

“It is.” Chris assured her and she lit up. 

“It is.” Michael agreed. 

“Thanks.” Tilly smiled and ate her cookie. The best people she knew just complimented her ass. Today was a total win.

“We need to find out if it’s possible to send messages back and forth across universes using fortune cookies.” Michael moved conversation away from asses and classified information and back on topic. “ _ How _ is that possible?”

“Actually we should start by asking, how do these fortunes exist under your bed,  _ now _ ?” Tilly said. "Let's start with our evidence and then figure out the science behind it."

“This isn’t messages from another universe, it’s messages from the future. From the past, actually.” Pike said and frowned. “The cookies were here, prior to my arrival. The fortunes are printed in the past, for the present, which means it’s a future he has seen.”

“The fortunes were printed in the past.” Michael repeated that, thoughtfully. “And were brought here by an imposter. If it’s a call for help, how did our Lorca intercept the messages before they were printed, b _efore_ he was in another universe?”

“Ok, guys. Hold the horses.” Tilly said. “Time flows. It doesn’t have one entrance where you get shot to another universe and then find the drain hole where you can pop back in in the past. We arrived nine months late, we missed nine months. We went forward. No back. Although time travel is a headache, so I guess there is a chance we could find out going back in time is possible.”

“This entire mission is about signals showing up before something can happen.” Michael pointed out. “That’s an indicator that  _ someone _ knows how to come back.”

“But fortune cookies aren’t red flashy things. They’re not angels either.” Chris leaned forward. “However this is still a distress call. Our Gabriel Lorca is still out there and he wants me to get off my ass and find him.”

“But this... _ wasn’t _ our Lorca’s ship.” Michael said. “It  _ never _ was. He doesn’t know us.”

“Knows of me. Knows Kat. Knows his doppleganger was using his name to pull some shady shit. That would piss me off too, make me want to haunt someone.” Chris put the fortune from his bed on the table and tapped it. “This is our Lorca. And he’s asking us to get him home.”

“By talking about  _ your ass _ ?” Tilly asked and then shrugged. “I kinda like this guy.” 

“Apparently that  _ was _ him.” Chris said and shrugged. “Kat choked up when I told her about this and read that. That was  _ her _ Gabriel. How else would we know it wasn’t just a MIrror Lorca fucking with us? Trying to get us to open the door to let him back in.”

“Because he’s dead. Mirror Lorca _is dead_.” Michael said and didn’t like how unconvinced she sounded. This could be a trick, it was more plausible than the real Gabriel Lorca calling for help.

“What if…” Tilly said and looked over at the spore drive. “What if his messages were able to travel through time the same way we can travel the mycelial network? It’s all connected. That’s the whole premise Staments used to make the spore drive; _it’s all connected_. The entire universe and clearly other universes too. The spore drive, It’s able to blink us across the galaxy. It’s intergalactic. It’s infinite. The Terrans had a mycelial reactor, we have a Spore drive. The tardigrade could travel it. We needed Mirror Lorca’s 133 jump pattern to be able to jump through to another parallel universe. What if our Lorca is  _ that smart _ and figured out that he could manipulate the network and get a message through? I can’t imagine some bad-ass like Admiral Cornwell loving some guy who wasn’t equal parts badass and brilliant.”

Michael looked over at Chris and just said, “We need to wake Staments.”

“Please, _ please _ tell me that this is not going to end with him shooting himself up with Tribble DNA.” Chris begged.

* * *

“That’s ridiculous.” Staments glared at the Captain. “It’s a  _ fucking Tribble _ . Why the hell would you think so little of me to think that it has any value to the network? To the universe?”

Chris could only shrug. He really thought it was cuter than a tardigrade.

“Anyhow, thanks for waking me so the Captain could insult me like this.” Staments snapped at Tilly.

“He’s new here. He doesn’t get it.” Tilly assured him. “Anyhow, the Terran Mycelial reactor. We had to disable it to save the universes, we used it to get back home.”

“Yes. But not  _ with Tribbles _ .” Staments huffed.

“ _He’s new here_.” Tilly repeated as an excuse for the captain. “We took their network offline.”

“Yes. By disconnecting the orb, we saved all the universes and us.” He said. “And you think that has something to do with fortune cookies?”

“Maybe?” Tilly shrugged. "Maybe we severed the final connection to the universes that was able to contain him. Like we reduced the static so he could communicate?"

Michael stared at the fortune and said, “We can’t leave one of our own over there.”

“He might not have had a means to travel through the network,” Chris offered. “But he managed to get a message through. A few, actually.”

“You found more?” Michael asked.

“ _ O Fortune, fortune! All men call thee fickle _ !” Chris read. 

“That’s Shakespeare.” Michael said and he smiled at her to say 'I know'. This was the second instance of him recognizing Shakespeare. ' _If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him that is renowned for faith? '_ she thought of the next line and took a deep breath. That, hit her hard. That could be about Chris too, because she had proven to be disastrous to those who were close to her, who were loyal to her. Foolish choices, emotional choices, had been the curse of her life. Was she cursing him? Was Lorca warning her to take a look at her past and realize she hurt those she loved?

"From _Romeo and Juliet_. Two star-crossed lovers..." Chris said thoughtfully. "The stars apparently worked against Kat and Gabriel."

Michael let doubt cloud her mind now, Chris didn't think that was about him. He saw it as evidence this was about Lorca. They were fortune cookies, you read what you wanted to read in them. 

“ _ Pike, you handsome devil. Stick you in a yellow uniform and I’d fucking ride you raw myself. _ ” Tilly read another from the pile and started cackling. “Oh my god! I love him, we _have_ to get him back.” 

Chris smiled at her. “The uniforms were new, he would have never seen them. Enterprise was the first to get them and then the war started and new uniforms seemed to go to the bottom of the list of priorities.”

“Are you sure these weren’t written by someone on the ship?” Staments asked and grumpily sat down and ate a cookie. “But I do like this guy more than our warmongering Lorca.”

“ _ We’ve been trying to reach you about your vehicle warranty. _ ” Tilly read the next one and laughed. “Ok, as much as I want to say this is a message straight from Terran hell, it can only be an Earth thing.”

“ _ The Perseids that night, paled in comparison to you _ .” Michael said and cocked her head. That wasn’t a fortune, it was personal. 

“It’s something to do with Admiral Cornwell, something in _their_ past.” Chris offered. “It means something to them. She mentioned that it was one of the tip-offs that Lorca was an imposter but she missed it.”

“Logic says we are reading into this too much.” Michael said. “However these are very oddly specific for a box of fortune cookies found under a bed that once was occupied by the man who stole his life. He was trying to get a message through, to warn us. Lorca didn’t read the fortunes, he ate the cookies and discarded the fortunes like trash.”

“And if the Admiral was banging Lorca, she might have had them as a snack.” Tilly added. “He had a nice ass too.”

“What?” Staments asked. 

“That could have been some kind of romantic gesture, hardly a call for help.” Michael said. 

“Well, let’s ask the current romantic occupant of that bed, how he felt about discovering messages in his cookies after sex.” Tilly said and tossed a cookie at Chris and raised her eyebrows.

“Is that why you had the Tribble?” Staments asked and narrowed his eyes at the Captain with an accusatory ‘Tribble-fucker’ glare.

“No!” Chris said appalled. Stament's had a glint in his eye that said 'payback was a bitch'. Apparently insult for insult. Asking him if he wanted to mingle with Tribble DNA was on par with fucking one. Well, lesson learned. 

_ “Michael. _ ” Tilly said. “He and  _ Michael  _ are banging. ”

“What?” Staments said and looked at Michael getting flustered. “Michael, I know Tyler was Klingon but a Tribble? I...guess they do vibrate..”

“No!” Michael and Tilly yelled in unison.

Chris cocked his head and looked confused. A look he mastered as Captain of Discovery in just a few weeks. These people were going to be the reason he went completely gray.

“Nevermind.” Tilly said and looked at Pike who had that adorable look of confusion on his face. “If you had some box of oddly specific fortune cookies under your bed, would you crack one open and read, in your sexy voice, stuff like…intimate memories? Like, hey...remember when I saved your life on the Hiawatha, want  _ me _ to impale you instead of shrapnel?”

Michael just made a whining noise as she looked at her best friend appalled. 

“No. Nobody would.” Chris shook his head and tried to not laugh. “But _ it _ would raise suspicion. Kat would question it. Her Gabriel was a snarky, sarcastic shit. Her words. He wouldn’t get sentimental in fortune cookies, he’d say something for pure humor of it. This is an attempt to give her reason to be suspect or maybe start a conversation that would out the Terran Lorca as an imposter.”

“The problem is that we don’t know how to get back to the other universe.” Staments said, pitying the man they never knew who might have been left behind.

“He’s not sending it from there. He’s in the network somehow,” Tilly said, “Using it like a Internet."

"He ran his family's fortune cookie company. He knew how they got the messages to put in the cookies. He would know the encryption information. Maybe he still had a say in things despite being here in space?" Michael offered. 

“So he can hack a printer in a fortune cookie factory but not send a Starfleet message?.” Tilly asked. "Even though he was obviously watching what was going on? Is he a ghost here or back on Earth where he’s a sentient fortune printer?"

"The messages are not the point." Staments said and looked at the pile of fortunes. Some were flipped over. "The lucky numbers on the back. Numbers repeat. These are coordinates. The fortunes were just to get your attention."

“Dude!” Tilly said and high fived him. “Way to go!”

“Ok, work on that.” Chris said. “Let me know what you find.”

“Take Michael with you.” Tilly said. “We don’t need her for this.”

“Take the Tribble.” Staments said. "Nobody needs it here."

“Ok.” Chris said and realized he was getting kicked out. 

* * *

“So this was one hell of a date, huh?” Chris asked as he held his Tribble and tried look commanding while walking the empty halls back to his room with a furball in hand. 

"Actually, it kinda was." Michael admitted as they heard footsteps and he tensed. She whispered, "How is that refractory period?"

Chris raised an eyebrow and smirked, and looked ahead of him. They paused as the footsteps got louder and Jett Reno appeared in the intersection of corridors. He would have asked her what she was doing up, but he suspected she was enjoying walking the corridors and not being alone. 

"Hey Maverick,” Reno looked at the captain, then to the Tribble, then to Burnham. “You kids taking the Tribble for a walk?”

“Looking for someone to adopt it.” Chris held his hand out and offered it to her. “Welcome to the Discovery.”

“Well.” Reno said and took it. After being on the Hiawatha with tiny robots as companions and a bunch of comatose crew, a Tribble didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Plus it would drive Staments up the wall, while it went up the walls. “What’s it’s name?”

“Cockblock.” Michael said, just embracing it because it was only a matter of hours before Tilly informed the entire crew she was sleeping with the Captain.

Reno laughed and pet it. “That sold me.”

“Great.” Chris said and had second thoughts about giving it away to the first person he saw. There were responsibilities to tribble ownership, consequences that he woudl have to deal with.

“So where’s the Tribble Kibble and do these things shit as much as they eat?”

“Michael?” Chris asked, deflecting the question. “You’re the Science officer.”

“We found it eating fortune cookies. If you need some, Staments and Tilly are going through a few boxes trying to decode a distress signal. They could need some help with the engineering aspects of their project.”

“Oh sweet.” She ruffed up the Tribbles fur and said. “Just the place I wanted to take you. You kids have a nice night.”

“That was easy.” Chris said and lit up and Michael looked concerned. “Or _too_ easy.”

“You’ll pay for that later.” She said and then smiled at him. “However, right now, you have to pay me for something else.”


	3. Fortune Favors the Strong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rewatch this from the beginning of season 2 and Disco writers really did leave an Easter egg on the floor in the form of a fortune cookie, huh? Thanks fandom for giving me context for that. :( 

Lorca’s Tribble Name: [ https://onehellupons.tumblr.com/post/169196063531/why-did-i-get-it-just-now ](https://onehellupons.tumblr.com/post/169196063531/why-did-i-get-it-just-now)

_Fortune_

Chapter 3

**Fortune Favors the Strong**

* * *

_“Burnham? Wherever our mission takes us, we’ll try to have a little fun along the way, too, huh? Make a little noise. Ruffle a few feathers?”_

_“I look forward to it, captain.”_

Michael smiled as she recalled their exchange, at the end of their first day together. Their _very_ first day working together. After the _Hiawatha_ , after they saved each other. How Chris had so easily confided in her that sitting out the war took its toll on him, then he told her about her brother. As if that wasn't enough, he closed their conversation with that statement. On reflection, she wasn’t sure if he was just offering information and confidence or if it was an invitation to make things more personal. 

“Still smiling, huh?” Chris said as he felt her smile on his chest. “Me too.”

She kissed his chest as she lay on him, tired from another round in bed. She genuinely enjoyed his presence, she enjoyed embracing her humanity with him. Being with him felt natural, something that had never come easily to her. “Can I ask you something?”

“No.” He said and then snorted when she picked her head up and looked at him, shocked. He grinned at her, “ _Absolutely not_.”

She tried to not smile, but his smile was hard to not fall into. His humor made her feel so damned human. There was so much life and warmth in this man. “Were you flirting with me when you told me, on your first day, we should ‘have a little fun along the way. Make a little noise’?”

“I _was_ implying we could sleep together, I figured you might be a ‘go out and take what you want’ kind of girl. Seems to be my type. Figured I could win you over if we got over that hurdle. Now, before we got there, I was flirting in the ready room and it all went _way_ over your head.” He said and she smiled at him. Then he thought of something: a forgotten detail. “In _the ready room_ ...where I found a _fortune cookie paper_ on the floor.”

“What did it say?” She asked, now remembering that forgotten detail. How had she forgotten that? She was too wrapped up in him and her memory was of how beautiful he was. How genuine. How not Lorca. 

“ _Not every cage a prison, nor every loss eternal._ ” He repeated it from memory and wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and held her close. It sounded ominous.

“Does that mean something to you?” She asked, surprised by his reaction to pull her closer. 

“Not unless Lorca is caught somewhere and he’s trying to tell us he’s not dead.” Chris said but it felt like _more_. 

“Or maybe it was Terran Lorca’s fortune, since he felt himself trapped in our universe and lost his Michael?” She suggested, wanting to ease his worry any way she could.

“We’re reading into this too much.” He said and loosened his grip and ran his fingers over her back. It was good to be able to talk to someone so freely though. To have the perfect mixture of work and play. 

He was thoughtful, and there was a beauty in how he relaxed into his pillow and looked at the ceiling, looking for answers. She wanted to know his thoughts, “What if we’re not reading into it?”

“Then I’d ask, if it's reading into it too much that we’re going after some red _angel_ , and the people on this path are named after angels? Archangels to be exact?” He asked. 

She studied him. This part of him she struggled to understand. His adamant attachment to his religion even in the face of so much that could defy it. His intensity and comfort in New Eden showed her a side of him that she didn’t know how to categorize. He even snapped at her to call it a ‘church’ and not a ‘structure’, like she was refusing to truly acknowledge it’s identity and the power it held. The xenoanthropologist in her wanted to know more about this aspect of humanity she missed out on being raised on Vulcan, but the part of her that wanted to be a more present part of Chris’s life was the one who replied, “Tell me more.”

“Michael, means ‘who is like God’. A protector. The leader of the army of God against the forces of evil.” He said and stroked her cheek, appreciating her humoring him. “A role model for a warrior, who often battles with the struggle of good and evil within one self.”

She remained silent, his reverence for these _angels_ of his faith evident in the inflection in his voice. He saw so much more in those windows in the church, so much more than history. He saw people _like him_. 

“Gabriel is a messenger.” Chris changed topics, not wanting to make Michael too uncomfortable. “And somewhat of a guardian angel.”

“My mother’s name was Gabrielle.” Michael said softly, not sure if she was submitting opposition to this statement or evidence for him to use. 

“It’s a belief in my religion, in my family, that when loved ones pass they look over the people they left behind.” Chris said and got a little choked up. He cleared his throat. 

“Do you think the red angel, is _looking out for us_?” She asked.

“A little.” He admitted. “But only because this mission put me in _your_ path. I’ve never felt so instantly connected to anyone in my entire life. Despite my flirtatious advances, I was truly out of my comfort zone with how quickly and forward I was with you.”

“Life or death situations do that.” She tried to reason it away.

“That wasn’t it. I’m pretty comfortable with the risks I take and, if I recall, you were also ‘comfortable with the risk’.” He smiled at her to tell her he regretted nothing. “I’m usually a little better about staying focused on my temporary mission and remaining uncompromised. I don’t get involved with my crew without a considerable amount of reflection and time to evaluate the possible ramifications. The last thing I wanted to do was step on this ship knowing what you all had been through and have anyone question my integrity in regards to personal relationships, yet there I was. Just...in awe of you.”

“I wasn’t ready for a relationship, but this _thing_ between us quickly burned with an intensity I could not look away from. I never questioned your integrity and, if anything, the fact you were willing to cross that line for me….made me feel extraordinary. Instead of damaged, instead of being defined by my mistakes.” She didn’t want to open up about Ash, she didn’t want to make this about her. She also didn’t have time to reflect on what all this meant yet and didn’t want to say something that she might regret. So, she asked, “And what does the _Angel Christopher_ represent? Are you here to save me too?” 

“He’s a saint.” Chris answered and she smiled at that. Then he added. “A martyr.”

She took a deep breath. If anyone would sacrifice himself for what he believed in without hesitation, it would be him. “Well, there will be _none of that_ if I’m an angel and a protector. I have no intention of letting you die, even though you have a habit of leaping into danger; either by ejecting into space or leaping on a phaser.”

“I appreciate that. Nice to know someone’s looking out for me. My Mom will be thrilled.” Chris smiled and felt her remaining tense under him “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make the discussion too heavy, I guess the fortune thing just has me spooked.”

“I was more comfortable with the chess metaphors.” She admitted. “But this, is good too. Like you said, context can alter our perspective. ”

“Yeah, well this is very much a part of me and as frustrated as it makes you, I believe. My faith is part of me.” He said. “I didn’t get a chance to talk about it on New Eden and got a little defensive about it.”

“Yes, _because you threw yourself on a phaser and almost died_.” She reminded him and he gave her that little half- shrug that managed to defuse everything. She relaxed a little; thrilled to be able to lay here after gratifying sex and still have a stimulating conversation after. She ran her hand up his neck and to his cheek. “I think it’s fascinating.”

Chris laughed. “I know _that tone_ and _that word_. That’s Vulcan for ‘you’re a fucking idiot but you amuse me so we can still hang out’.”

“I believe in science.” She said and pursed her lips. “Which you know. You told me about your father, about the blending of science and religion in your household. Was that an attempt to tell me you would be comfortable with our opposites approaches?”

“Well, that would be extraordinarily clever of me.” He said and raised his eyebrows.

“You know how to put people at ease.” She pet his cheek as his eyes twinkled with delight at being seen through. How different he was from everyone she had been intimate with. "I actually do find this fascinating."

“It was huge part of how I came to be who I am. I just lean one way because it makes more sense to me.” He said and sighed. "And I'm worried I'm seeing these fortune cookies as more than they are. Falling into the trap of Clarke's Law."

“Mmm.” She said and ran her hand through his hair. Clearly she couldn't complain because she did like the result of his upbringing. "Well, we're scientists so we'll call you out when you do."

“And when science can’t come up with an explanation for signals, red angels or a Starfleet captain complimenting my ass from another timeline--- it strengthens my faith.” He added.

“Give us time, we’ll find an answer.” She said and smiled. He liked the challenge, he genuinely liked the challenge science had for his faith. It struck her that he had to be challenged a lot for who he was, for being a moral and upstanding man. For a captain who could use his position to do what he wanted, for the position to change him. “You wanted to show me that church, in New Eden, didn't you.”

“I wanted to show you the power that church had.” He said. 

“My faith was _in you_.” She said and placed a kiss on his lips. “And if this is what it feels like to take comfort in something you don’t understand, something you’re afraid of….I understand what faith means to you.”

“Michael, that’s…” he wanted to say ‘Love’ but she kissed him again. Kissed him because this was happening too fast and asking questions would only scare her, and he kissed her back because this scared him too. 

* * *

When it was time for their shifts, Michael returned to her room to shower and change while he got prepared for the day. His room already felt empty without her, _in just one day_. He was contemplating whether or not he should return her chess set and was actually thankful that the bridge called to let him know Cornwell was ready to dock and come aboard. It made him hurry up and get dressed, instead of dwelling on the feelings an empty bed and room had left him with. 

Instead of reflecting on his feelings like a damned teenager.

Unfortunately, it only led him to be a little less diplomatic when it came to Kat damned near running him over as she left the cargo bay on the way to finding answers. Which, in turn, set the sleep deprived admiral into lecture mode with the one person she didn’t need to be at odds with. By the time they got to Staments’s lab, they were both a little hot. 

“Admiral Cornwell came aboard to brief me on some details about the Discovery’s missions that were notably absent from the files I got when I came on board.” Chris said. and the team looked over at her and then back at him: Tilly wide-eyed, Staments curious, Reno entertained and Michael being Vulcan and stoic. “Because, apparently, destroying evidence of our explorations is now _a thing_ that _we do_.”

“It was classified and need to know.” Katrina shot back.

“I clearly needed to know.” Chris countered.

“Any and all information about the mirror universe was erased from the ship, it was information that could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands.” She reiterated. "We were at war, Chris!"

“So you said. However it’s my ship, my crew and _I’m not the enemy._ ” Chris’s voice dropped down low for that last part. 

“And here I am to tell you about it.” Kat said, without missing a beat. “Once you _prove to me_ you need to know.”

“Are Mom and Dad fighting?” Jett asked as she crunched a fortune cookie between her teeth and looked at them, waiting for an answer. She raised her eyebrows and crunched loudly.

Kat rolled her eyes. “What I did as acting captain of the Discovery was for everyone’s safety. Now that we’re past that, tell me what you found out about our Captain Lorca?”

“We found some more fortune cookies that, uh...” Tilly looked at Pike and said. “Are real complimentary towards Captain Pike.”

“Prophetic.” Staments said. 

“Well let’s hear them.” Kat said.

Tilly grabbed one off the pile and cleared her throat. “ _@strongsilenttype, just stop it. Even I prefer Pike_.”

“ _If you, or a loved one, was diagnosed with MeSoNotLorca you may be entitled to financial compensation_.” Staments read his.

Jett giggled as she heard the other’s selections. Then she laughed more, because someone knew enough Shakespeare to find something applicable. “ _And you whose pastime is to make midnight mushrooms._ ”

“ _So long and thanks for all the fish._ ” Staments smiled. “I do love a Douglas Adams quote.”

Tilly picked another. _"It’s not the size of your ship, it’s how you use it._ "

" _Maybe you should have just sent a gift Tribble and some corn to Qo’nos instead of a bomb_?" Staments read another. “That really...isn't a bad idea.”

" _I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, sir,” said Alice.” Because I am not myself, you see’_ ” Michael read the _Alice in Wonderland_ quote, her eyes having picked it up from the pile easily. 

“ _Treat them like mushrooms: keep them in darkness and feed them shit._ ” Reno read.

“ _The penis is not mightier than the admiral._ ” Tilly read another one and then slapped her hand on the pile of fortunes to stop anyone from reading more. “This guy _is awesome_ and brilliant. He’s found a humorous way to cry for help and if that isn’t the way to anyone’s heart, then you don’t have one. No you, admiral, you’re nice and clearly here because you have a heart and um….can we save him now?”

“Yes.” Cornwell said, in a disbelieving huff. “That’s Gabriel.”

“That’s what I needed to hear.” Chris said and looked at his crew. “Ok, thoughts?”

“We need to go to the coordinates that we collected from the ‘lucky numbers’ on the back of the fortunes.” Staments said. “Then we’ll figure out what we’re dealing with.”

“Where is it?” Cornwell asked.

“At the sight of the USS Buran’s detonation.” Michael said softly, having stayed silent for most of the presentation. It made the Admiral suck in a breath of air. It made everyone go quiet.

“Oh my God.” Kat said. 

“Do I have..” Chris didn’t even have a chance to finish before she approved his request.

“Yes.” Kat said. “It’s a distress call. It's a priority even with your mission. Get us there fast.”

“Alright.” Chris said. “You all figure out what we’re going to do when we get there.”

“What do you think we’ve been working on all night?” Reno asked. “Eating cookies and creating a formula for Tribble Kibble that will keep Cockblock fed, but not engorged enough to spawn?”

Chris sighed, Tilly giggled and Reno grinned at him. He turned around to leave, he was needed on the bridge so he could get them to the location of Lorca’s ghost.

“I’m sorry, _what_?” Kat asked as Chris left and left her with the smirking team. 

* * *

“So what are we looking at? Chris asked as he looked out the window of his ready room and Tilly and Michael set up a presentation at the conference table. Katrina sat in his chair, pensive, but petting the Tribble. Somehow she had been conned into taking possession of the thing for a little while, possibly because Staments thought it was reasonable to use it for war crimes. He was glad she had it, it was cooing and purring as she pet it. It would have been one thing if they arrived and saw nothing, but there was still debris here from the _Buran’_ s destruction. That was never easy to see, certainly not when you knew people on board.

“It’s a wormhole.” Michael said and pulled up their display in 3D over the table. 

“I thought wormholes were a bridge between two points. Very temporary.” Chris said, turning back to the table, and to his surprise Tilly started clapping for him.

“I _knew_ you couldn’t have _actually_ failed Astro.” Tilly stopped clapping when the Admiral raised an eyebrow wondering exactly when their captain had time to discuss his academy transcripts with the crew. 

“And ‘F’ is an ‘F’ no matter what the reasons.” Chris smiled at her. 

Michael cleared her throat. “Captain Pike is correct, normally a wormhole is a connection between two points. It’s a tunnel, an unstable tunnel, but a tunnel nonetheless. Only one exit and one entrance, predetermined by the anomaly.”

“Which is different from our warp drives which _bend_ space. Contracting space ahead of the ship and expanding it behind, so the propulsion wave sends the ship faster than light.” Tilly added.

“Ensign, I’m not retaking the test.” Chris smiled at her assuming this was his benefit. “I also have a good grasp on how my ship works, unless it’s powered by mushrooms.”

“Good.” Tilly said and waved her hands in a circle. “Both principles are at play here for this theory to work. If the USS Buran was at warp, bending space to travel, and the ion storm hit over in Terran Hell, creating a small wormhole for the energy of Bad Lorca to get shot somewhere, we have a very plausible theory as to how they switched places. Space _got bent_!”

“If it was a wormhole, the Lorcas would have swapped places.” Kat said, no question in her voice. “Like the Discoverys did.”

“Oh, someone definitely passed Astro.” Tilly cleared her throat. “You’re right. However the ship was moving faster than light and time had to catch up with it. Plus, our Lorca’s energy did not have a receptacle over there and basically space got bent trying to figure it out. Since two beings occupying the same space is a big no-no, when the Discovery destroyed the Terran mycelial reactor, or Bad Lorca got melted in it, it was enough energy to push him somewhere else in the multidimensional mycelial network. One door closed and without a bridge between two points, I think time just opened up some dimensional doors in order to put the wormhole somewhere.”

“No offence Tilly, but this sounds like a bunch of sciencey bullshit.” Chris said and she grinned and shrugged at him.

“In science, we call it ‘theoretical’ instead of ‘bullshit’.” Tilly said with a smile. “And honestly it makes more sense than the spore drive.”

“The good news is, that if Lorca is caught in a wormhole, then there will be electromagnetic fluctuations to trace his presence in it. He will be foreign energy in a vacuum. His energy is what is stopping the wormhole from collapsing.” Michael added. “Wormholes are not stable, they are unpredictable. They do not last this long. It’s a sound assumption that Lorca’s dematerialized energy is the exotic matter within the wormhole out there that is stabilizing it.”

Katrina took a deep breath, her Gabriel’s smile and adoring eyes immediately came to mind. He had provided her stability in a time in her life when she wasn’t sure what direction to take. He propelled her forward to take the steps to become who she was today. “He has no physical body, so he has managed to exist in stasis this long waiting to be beamed back into his corporeal form?”

“Oh my god, you definitely got an A+.” Tilly said and rubbed her hands together. “Yes! Because he’s exotic matter, he is _negative energy_. He is density and pressure and the wormhole is held open because of him. So when we ‘energize’ we can pull him into the transporter room because the wormhole basically wants him gone. It’s been trying to shoot him somewhere but can’t find a target. So, we just need to take one of our transporter pads, and shoot into the wormhole and pull him out. It’s science awesome?!”

“Run this all by me again.” Chris said. “I get quantum physics, what I don’t have is context for how you know all this. It’s one thing to toss around quantum theory over fortune cookies, Tribbles, and coffee, but another to have the confidence to know how an entire other universe works and what a Mirror Lorca was doing on his lunch break that day.”

“ _Enough already_.” Kat growled. The Tribble stopped purring. “It was classified and erased for a reason, _Christopher_.” 

“And you’re asking me to pull this ship’s former captain out of a wormhole, which theoretically could be linked to another universe, _the evil universe._ And from my context clues, Lorca was dissolved in a vat of magic mushrooms before that soup was used to travel back through the rabbit hole to get home.” Chris said. “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, ergo, I am worried what might have been hitchhiking along with those mushrooms to come back home.”

“We don’t have time for me to brief you.” Kat said.

“Then you better make time, because I’m not endangering this ship or its crew by reanimating some evil captain who managed to trick a ship full of geniuses into getting him back home in the first place.” Chris countered.

Tilly had to fan herself. Pike and Cornwell warmed up the room quite a bit with _their_ negative energy. And their hard-ass commanding voices were _something._ “Ok. Recap. Lorca’s ship was destroyed. Terran Lorca. In the ISS Buran. Ok, let’s start over, you two got me a little flustered.” 

Michael interrupted, they didn’t have time for Tilly to explain this. And she had already confided too much to Chris about classified things. Cornwell seemed to sympathize with her roomate and handed her the Tribble for it’s advertised calming effects. “Terran Lorca was being beamed on board his ship, the ISS Buran, when an ion storm hit in Terran space and he was shunted into our universe. Meanwhile Emperor Georgiou destroyed the ISS Buran. We assumed he swapped places with our Lorca, the way our Discovery swapped places with theirs. I think we were wrong because we didn’t account for the fact that Terran Lorca was already dematerialized when his energy was redirected and our Lorca was at warp.”

“If they swapped places, then our Lorca was put in that beam in his place.” Chris clarified and looked at the wormhole on the display. “Except that he’s alive and a space soothsayer. So he wasn’t beamed aboard that Buran. For him to be alive, he had to be dematerialized as well. What are the odds of two Lorcas, in two universes, being beamed somewhere at the exact same time?“

“Impossible.” Michael said. “However, Tilly has a theory that makes it work.”

“Transporters dematerialize and rematerialize us when we use them.” Tilly said excitedly and waved the Tribble at the display to show the math she did. “What if the rematerialization never happened because the _ISS Buran_ was destroyed? So he got bounced back? Laws of Conservation of mass state that no energy can be created or destroyed, well if an energy from our universe crossed over there with no outlet it became something else: exotic energy. Lorca’s energy was a hole in the continuity of space time, forcing the wormhole to stay open; punching a hole in space time that wanted to bounce him back to where he came from. Mirror Lorca didn’t see the wormhole because he was busy being evil and killing people! Right now our Lorca is caught, dematerialized in space time, caught in neither here nor there, because the drop point in Terran space was blown up by another evil person being evil and killing people.”

“So Mirror Lorca survived because of the ion storm?” Chris asked. He wondered where Michael got this information. Then again, they were over there a while. “Ours survived because he confused the universe and it didn’t know where to put him , so it shelfed his energy in a hole in space time?”

“How do you think black holes form?” Tilly asked.

“Not like that.” Chris said with a warm smile. 

“Well, not like that. Because Black holes are collapsing and this hole is being held open.” Tilly said proudly. “He is holding his hole open….ok...I mean....”

  
  


“Alright, I’ll take your word for it.” Chris said. “ Let’s get back to the beginning, how did a Terran Captain beam aboard a starship in another universe?”

“Oh, that’s easy. The _USS Buran_ could have locked on to his energy field and brought him on board.” Tilly said. “Our transporters have a safety feature that will grab whole energy like that and pull it on the ship. Transporter accidents lead to some failsafes being integrated in our systems.”

Michael continued, thoughtfully, trying to recreate the scenario. “So he is beamed aboard the USS Buran. It would have triggered so many alerts, confusion.”

“Yeah, because that would mean the possibility of transwarp beaming which...” Tilly’s eyes went wide. 

“Is not our dilemma, right now.” Chris said sweetly and she gave him an apologetic smile. He looked to Michael, “Please continue, Commander Burnham.”

“Lorca lands in the transporter room. Alarms blaring, immediately putting him in survival mode without questioning where he was. He probably thought he was on his own ship. This is all before anyone on the bridge actually laid eyes on him in the transporter room and saw he looked like their Captain. He would have known something was wrong the instant he saw our uniforms. I’m sure the teleporter crew died quickly.”

“The real reason he destroyed that ship, more than likely, was our Lorca’s medical records were on board. Two Lorcas, one scan would tell them someone had the wrong DNA. It makes no sense to destroy it, he would have had a good vessel to use. A Terran, landing in the middle of a war, would not immediately give up a battleship for a science ship.” Tilly offered. She felt bad for those people who thought that they were killed by their own captain.

“Unless he wanted to get home.” Chris offered.

“Unless he was only interested in finding Michael.” Tilly frowned.

“So Terran Lorca was beamed up over there and beamed down over here.” Chris clarified. “What about our Lorca? _How_ does he get pulled over into the other universe without being particles of energy? Why wasn’t he immediately swapped with bad Lorca since two people can’t occupy the same space and time?”

“Time was bent.” Tilly said thoughtfully. “Our transporters grabbed Bad Lorca's energy and stabilized it before the instability _could_ swap Lorcas. Warp speed did it. It bent space and formed a bubble the wormhole was pushed away from.”

Chris frowned. He wasn’t going to say it sounded like bullshit again. 

“It’s probably how evil Lorca took over the Buran.” Tilly offered. “I mean when new people get beamed aboard, especially if they’re getting locked on in space without a vessel during warp with a whole new transwarp beaming option, then the Captain would rush down to transporters to see who it was. _Right_?”

“I would.” Chris nodded.

“Gabriel would.” Katrina confirmed. She had been quiet, she could follow their theories and sciences just fine, but she needed to stand back and let them work it out. Chris was doing a fine job of asking the right questions, she needed to stand back and make a decision about approving the retrieval. Chris was right about it possibly being the wrong Lorca, he was right to be angry with her for being compromised. This theory was insane.

“So…” Tilly walked around the table and then turned to them, “Imagine you’re marching up to the door, your Transporter technician is over the comms saying that the Captain just materialized. Doors open, the person on that pad is _you_ . You look at yourself, wondering why you’re wearing gold and black leather, and your crew sees their Captain...no _two_ captains. What’s your response?”

“Freeze in confusion. Hold our fire because this doesn’t make sense. Lower our defenses.” Pike replied and pointed a finger gun at her and lowered it. “So he came on board and just took advantage of their hesitation? Is this guy that good? Does he think _that_ fast?”

“Yes. He’s Terran.” Michael said. “He probably shot faster, no qualms whatsoever about shooting them. Shoot first, ask questions later. If he killed the transporter techs, he more than likely had time to figure out what might be going on. They would have still been logged into the console. He had the jump on them.”

“And he needed Gabriel’s uniform to take over.” Katrina said. “And he _is_ a fast draw and fast talker. He had a phaser under his pillow and damned near choked me in bed while he decided whether or not he wanted to vaporize my head. He’s got the reflexes of someone who has been in a warzone. The scars too. I thought he was broken by the loss of the Buran, by not going down with his ship. I was wrong.”

“Why is everyone on this ship having sex but me!” Tilly growled and passed the Tribble back to the admiral who probably needed comfort. 

“Tilly.” Michael said, reminding her that this was a very sensitive topic for the admiral. They were also in the ready room briefing two superior officers with some very ridiculous theories.

“Oh sorry. I just wish a hot admiral or hot captain would come and visit and want to cuddle me.” She said and everyone fell quiet. “Let’s just say, I call dibs on either of you if this doesn’t work out. OK?”

“I’m flattered.” Katrina said, genuinely.

“I’m planning to make sure this works out.” Chris said and waved between him and Michael. “Or else I wouldn’t have started it.”

Michael cleared her throat. That got raised eyebrow from both Tilly and the admiral. She flushed a little and then cleared her throat, again. “So the theory we’re working with is that Evil Lorca disabled Good Lorca and stripped him of his clothes and then transported his body off the Buran and into…”

“Space, as far as he knew.” Tilly said. “But what he didn’t count on was equivalent exchange needing to be met before that wormhole could close. Bad Lorca transported Naked Lorca into space and the wormhole took the energy, and then tried to expel it so it could shut. The balance between the two universes was off, the Lorca concentration was too high over here so it was necessary to send it back over there.” Tilly said. “I think he was dematerialized and stayed that way and is just hanging out in the space-time continuum. Possible without clothes? I mean, he’s not really a body so I guess you don’t need clothes, but he’ll probably be in his underwear when we beam him back. Maybe not, I was not thrilled with the Terran thong uniform option.”

“You can _do that_?” Chris asked. Realizing they most definitely could, or else they wouldn't be here explaining all this to him. “I’m talking about the particles of Lorca and not the thong.”

“Well, would you have believed we could use mushrooms to travel across the galaxy before last week?” Michael asked, the question of the week apparently..

“Touche.” Chris said. “Good point. Getting someone’s body stuck in time between transporter locations is way easier to digest.”

“If he’s stuck in space-time, the fabric of time has a lump in it. If there are two universes on either side of that fabric, neither of which provide a receptacle for that energy, he could be held between them. Until we, Discovery, caused a massive energy disruption when we crossed back into our universe, and shut the door on Terran Space. Without anywhere to send him, time may just stretch enough to allow him access to _time itself_. It’s possible those cookies didn’t have those messages in them when Imposter Lorca was here.” Michael explained.

“Time travel is such a headache.” Tilly lamented. “But that is true. It’s really possible he didn’t gain access to the past until we punched through to our universe and somehow pretzeled the wormhole with two anchoring points in the same place. Just different times. Going from a 2D plane to a 4D cube, like a normal chess board versus the tiered monstrosity Michael likes.”

“So he could see what was happening and yo-yo back to place a fortune cookie order?” Chris asked.

“Exactly.” Tilly said. 

“How?” Chris dared to ask. “How could he get the messages printed if he’s not even physical?”

“The fortune cookie factory is not exactly a top secret warehouse.” Kat informed him. “It’s a small family business. They keep things simple because some older family members are working there. When I visited the place, I met his great grandmother who giggled as she threw a handful of insulting fortunes into the vat of papers and winked at me. The whole family was a little chaotic, but fun. They work on a wifi network, he would know the password. If these fortunes ended up in cookies, they’d just blame Great-Grandma and let it go.”

“So the order that Lorca placed?” Chris asked. “It didn’t raise suspicion?”

“He didn’t dare call in the order, he placed it online.” Kat said. “His act wouldn’t stand up to them. The P.O. number traced back to a generic Starfleet expense account.”

“An energy disruption could very easily distort a wireless network.” Tilly said. “Super easy.”

“So how do we go about detecting Lorca’s energy and grabbing it so we can put him back together?” Chris asked. He asked enough questions, time to move onto action.

“He should be in that wormhole. Time is being bent _inside of it._ ” Michael answered. “Otherwise we would have seen ripples of the time anomaly elsewhere.”

“So what? Look for a trail of fortune cookie papers or are we going to just turn on the transporters and see what we collect?” Chris asked but it was directed at Kat because they had already discussed the solution, and his problem with the solution. He needed to know if this was her Gabriel or not.

“We use our sensors to detect the energy disruption and then turn on the transporters to grab it.” Tilly offered. “We can turn on one transporter to be like a beacon, like a lighthouse, in tune to his energy signature and have computers scan his DNA when on board. Everything is happening in the wormhole, he’s not traveling through space as we know it. He’s been in the same place since this happened, the _when_ has changed.”

“I can get those files.” Kat said. “Do it.”

Chris bit his lip and she looked at him. “I don’t want an order, Kat, I’m not asking you to take responsibility. All I need to hear is that you believe that it’s him.”

“I do.” She said affirmatively. 

“Alright, let’s get him.” Chris said. “Leave the Tribble, if anything is going to break time, it’s going to be _that thing._ ”

* * *

“Thank you.” Kat said softly as Chris stood next to her at the transporter console. 

“You had every right to go over my head if I said no.” He replied and lifted his eyebrows to tell her he appreciated her not going that route..

“No, I didn’t.” She said. “I was personally compromised. I should have recused myself, but I couldn’t stand aside on this one. Not after everything that's happened. Not after everyone we lost.”

Chris looked over at Michael, assisting Tilly with the teleporter alterations. “I understand.”

“Don’t.” Kat said harshly and he looked back at her, confused. “Don’t you dare deny yourself _or her_ a chance to have something that you think is selfish. Gabriel helped make me who I am and I thought that I could only prove my strength by walking away from him. It’s been lonely, I don’t regret it, but it also made me myopic. I made some bad calls, on this very ship, and I know if he was there he would have called me out. If he was there, I would have seen a very valuable viewpoint.”

“I get that.” He said and looked around as the equipment all got pulled apart and reassembled. Reno was ripping wires out of the teleporter with a complete lack of concern. “I’ve been here two weeks and seen so much. I have the grey hair to prove it.” 

“I also need someone to kick your ass from port to bow the next time you recklessly endanger yourself on a mission.” Kat said with a pointed look. “Michael was there to save you both times, I hope with this development in your personal relationship that she’ll step in before your dumb ass leaps on a fucking phaser.”

“Thanks.” He smirked.

“ _We_ also need people, it's what makes us human.” She reminded him that command was lonely enough. “We’re social creatures, we’re in need of stability. We can strengthen each other, without being dependent or compromising anything.”

“Why does this sound like this isn’t just about me?” He asked.

“Ok!” Tilly yelled. “We’re all set!”

“Activate the beacon, Ensign.” Chris ordered.

“Yes sir!” Tilly said and flipped the switch. Nothing visibility happened and she turned to the admiral and captain and smiled at them. “It’s working, it’s just not visible. Just imagine glitter and rainbows and unicorns and wait for beeping. Which will be an incoming unicorn. Possibly naked. Maybe horny? Not sure for which one of you.”

“Like I said, some people just need a little support.” Kat said.

“She’s fully embraced the ‘you're my roommate's boyfriend so we’re friends by default’.” Chris mused. “Kinda like being back at the academy.”

“It’s good, she’s brilliant. I’d love to see where she goes if she’s got a mentor in the Command Training Program that can help her develop her skills.” Kat said.

“I already intended to take her under my wing prior to any developments with Michael. And Michael has already been quite the mentor. ” Chris looked at her. “Mind telling me why we’re suddenly talking HR issues?”

“Because I’m nervous and attempting to distract myself with personnel stuff.” She answered, honestly.

He knew she was more worried about it working and going horribly wrong than it not working at all. “I have faith in them.”

“This is pretty amazing.” Kat said looking at the display screen. “I’m sorry I’ve been a hard ass about the Mirror Universe. I don’t want that information to be another burden you have to bear.”

“It’s pretty essential information to me if I’m going to help this crew.” Chris said. “They’re staying busy, running non-step. When they stop running, it’s all going to catch up with them. I can see the cracks on the surface, I thought it was all about Lorca’s betrayal, but the wounds are deep.”

“I can stay on board a little while, offer a trained ear to those who want to talk.” Kat offered.

“I appreciate it, and under any other circumstances I would love to have you,” Chris paused and looked at his people. Excited to save someone. “But I need Lorca off this ship as fast as medically possible to avoid old wounds from exploding open. Not while we’re running into the unknown to figure out these signals.”

“I understand.” Kat said with a nod.

“Incoming!” Tilly yelled.

Kat stepped back as Michael ran over to the transporter console to ‘beam’ in their catch. She held her breath, scared it would be some tangled mess of a man, scared it would be the man who fooled them all. A figure formed in the golden glitter of the transporter pad and then materialized into a familiar face. A familiar body, stripped down to his undershirt and boxers. No sooner did he materialize, did he collapse. She wanted to run to him but Chris grabbed her arm, holding her back as Commander Nhan and security raised their weapons and waited for the go-ahead from their captain to secure the new arrival.

“It’s him.” Michael said in disbelief as the transporter console's scan came back with an exact match for Gabriel Lorca of their universe. They had rigged a full body medical scanner into the pad at last minute, afraid to let another cherished Doctor get close enough to the enemy to have a neck snapped. “That’s our Lorca.”

“Right.” Lorca gasped as he struggled with the fact that he had a body again, and the fact that the body could smash into things-- _like the floor_. “What’s a war hero got to do to get some lubrication around here?” 

Chris released Kat’s arm and shoved her forward, he had his proof. He trusted Michael to run enough scans and verifications to satisfy any questions he had. However he narrowed his eyes at Lorca because that statement implied he was anxious to take care of things...and then he realized they had been watched while he was in space-time. _Oh._

Kat ran over to him, decorum be damned. Lorca gasped as she picked him off the teleporter pad and hugged him. Kat started to cry, holding his head to her chest. “You asshole.” 

“Why do you always greet me like that?” Lorca laughed and looked at the crew of the Discovery, who was still not convinced he belonged here. “Thank you. Thank you for coming to get me. Can I have some clothes? Maybe a blanket?”

“We don’t leave anyone behind.” Pike said and felt his crew’s silence as they laid eyes on the man who had hurt him. “You’re going to have to forgive my crew, they…”

“Hoped they’d never see me again?” Gabriel finished the sentence. “Yeah, well, I wish I could have done more. Sooner. Those damned spores really played hell with my attempts to send messages.”

“Welcome home.” Chris said and waved to his speechless crew to exit in an attempt give Katrina and Gabriel some space. Nhan lifted her chin to say she was staying put in case it was a ruse, and he gave her a nod to approve of that. He ushered his people into the hall, as he could see the impact of this hit them like aftershocks. They weren’t chasing the science anymore and reality was staring back at them, in his underwear.

“Hey strongsilentype.” Lorca said and Pike turned around to look at him, he smiled and winked. “Great ass.”

Chris smiled at him and went into the hall, that wink said he had seen a lot of his bare ass. Oh well, good thing he wasn't shy. He walked out into the hall, his pensive crew eager to be dismissed and left to scatter to the wind in order to figure out how to handle this. “Thank you all. I know the admiral intends to leave as soon as possible and alleviate any tension caused by Lorca's face coming back on board the Discovery. You all did a hell of a job today. Thank you.”

“Does he want his Tribble?” Reno asked, noticing the other members of the team seemed to be oddly quiet. 

“Pack it up in the fortune cookie box and offer it as a 'welcome back from the dead' gift.” Chris said and then added for clarification. “Once he’s out of the transporter room. We do not shoot Tribbles into wormholes? Got it?”

“Wait.” Tilly said as they started to walk away from the teleporter room. “We can’t do this. We can’t treat him like he’s the guy who hurt us.”

“Tilly, it’s not about turning him into a pariah.” Chris explained. “You all only knew one Gabriel Lorca and it wasn’t him. He doesn’t know the Discovery or it’s crew. And the Discovery...”

“Has forgiven a Klingon spy.” Tilly said. “We forgave Ash Tyler. We knew it wasn’t his fault. We’re stronger than you give us credit for.”

“I’m not accusing you of being...weak.” Chris sighed and saw how Michael froze at the mention of that. Someone hadn’t forgiven him, or didn’t know how. “I know this crew can handle it. The man in there just got pulled out of space-time and has a lot to catch up on. The damage to him personally, needs to be healed before he should be met with the weight of what someone did in his name.”

“Who else is best suited to help him? Who else than the crew that came back from another universe to a world that was losing to the Klingons? Who else but his Starfleet family to help this guy get back on his feet? We’re better now, we’re not that naïve crew anymore who thought this was just about science in space. We’ve seen war. We’ve seen another universe. We’ve been betrayed. We’ve grown. And we can grow on him. So let’s just welcome him home, because it’s cold and alone out there and it’s warm and family in here. Maybe we can heal each other?” Tilly said.

Chris looked to Michael and she nodded. “I will extend to them an offer of a guest cabin, but he still gets the damned Tribble.” 

“I’ll brace everyone for impact using my secret social network.” Tilly assured him.

“I’ll go get that transporter pod duct taped back together.” Reno said with a wink.

That left Chris and Michael alone as those two zipped off on their own self-declared missions. He smiled at her. “Tilly is going to be one hell of a captain.”

“I don’t think she would have been ready for that decision without one hell of a captain to inspire her.” Michael said. 

"Let's get back to the bridge, give at and Gabriel some time before I go talk to them." Chris said as they walked to the turbolift. he hoped this worked out teh way Tilly expected it to.

* * *

Kat rolled her eyes as Gabriel was presented with a Tribble and a bag full of Tribble keeping supplies. The damned thing came full circle, apparently.

“I’m going to name it Merkin.” Lorca said and set it on his lap and pet it. It purred. “Oooh...that’s a fun sensation to have on your lap.”

“ _God_.” Kat huffed knowing the meaning of that and wishing she didn’t. 

“Actually its name is Cockblock.” Reno said and dropped the box of cookies on the floor. “Which is a name that was earned and also the reason we have any cookies to find you floating around space-time. Where you decide to stick it, well that’s totally up to you.”

“I mean...why not have both? Merkin Cockblock.” Gabriel asked with a smile and stroked his Tribble.

“I like him.” Reno said and patted the admirals’ arm. “Make sure he doesn’t overfeed it. He seems like the type to think it’s funny to do that.”

“Why should you guys be denied your Tribble mascot?” He asked with a smile. “They’re self-replicating. We can both have this very same Tribble.”

“No.” Reno said. “You feed it, you make more, we shoot you back into that wormhole with the Tribble. You come out on the other side looking like a furry.”

“If I ever get a ship again, and don’t just default to Tribble wrangler, I want you on my ship.” Gabriel told Reno and pet the Tribble.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what they all say.” She said and waved to him as she left. “Until I duct tape the teleporter back together. Anyhow, you kids have a nice night.”

“So what’s her story?” Gabriel asked as soon as the doors shut. “I get the feeling this isn’t about a game of Pass the Tribble. Feels more like sympathy.”

“It is. Reno was stranded aboard an asteroid for months, keeping her crewmates alive by herself.” Kat said and slapped him as he put the Tribble up close to her face and made kissy noises. No doubt this was _her_ Gabriel.. “She knows what it’s like to be alone and try to save people, knowing the chances of being saved are impossibly slim.”

“And the rest of the crew?” He asked.

“They want to throw you a welcome back party.” Kat said. “They want us to stay for a while.”

Lorca was surprised by that. “And Pike?”

“Apprehensive, but he listens to his crew.” She said. 

“And you?” He asked.

“I think you’ll win them over. Give them some closure.” She said.

“Is that the therapist talking?”

“There is so much damage here.” She said. “I don't think they ever felt like they came home. The universe changed while they were away, both the Discovery and Enterprise, and there is an immense amount of guilt and pain. So, yes, as a therapist I am advocating for as much open discussion and healing as possible.”

“And personally?” Gabriel asked, his voice softening. “What do you feel guilty about? I can see it in the way you look at me, how you look away. This goes beyond just guilt of abandoning me in a wormhole, which you had no control over.”

“I didn’t see the imposter for who he was. I saw a man who was damaged by the war. I’ve been struggling with the anger and guilt for thinking it was you, for not seeing he could never be you; guilt for ignoring the signs because I was the one who handed this ship over to an obviously mentally unstable man from another universe.” Kat answered with more honesty than she had allowed herself to admit in the last few months.

“And what happens to a possible time traveller?” He asked, curious what his own future looked like now. The real topic she didn’t want to think about.

“I guess that depends on whether or not you actually saw more than what happened on this ship.” Kat answered. “It depends on what actually happened.”

He looked at her, and smiled but they both knew it was a façade. He saw so much, _he saw everything_. He still felt the pain of watching her die so fresh in his mind. He did see a future, a future that just fucking sucked. “Does it get classified along with everything else this ship has gone through?”

“Finding you alive may very well be the easiest discussion I’ve had to have with the admiralty in regards to the Discovery.” Kat replied, honestly.

“Great. Well, admiral, classify it and passifiy that.” Lorca handed her the Tribble. “And come join me in the shower.”

“That wasn’t an answer.” Kat said and knew that look, knew it meant he had seen too much. Gabriel was already going to have a lot to navigate with his return, did she really need to add a temporal violation into that? Knowing him, he planned to use his knowledge for good but that was not up to him.

“No, it was _a solution_.” He said. “And if you’re going to order me around, I’d much rather it be in bed. Prove to me this body still works and I’m not dead.”

“I can do that.” She replied and the Tribble purred. She put it in the carrier Reno left and wondered how much she wanted to push Gabriel on this. It seemed like it was enough for now.

* * *

Michael had never snuggled anyone so much in her life. Chris was naturally so affectionate, so warm and welcoming, and she finally admitted to herself she enjoyed it as much as he did. “So, do you still think that Lorca is the angel Gabriel?”

"Angel? Not likely. I'm pretty sure he watched us have sex." Chris knew it was her asking him for a read on the man, or maybe a report from Kat. Or maybe it really was her, curious if this man’s arrival was another angel spotting. “He’s seen the past, present and future. I’d say that’s as close as we humans get to having a messenger from God.”

It worried her too, once she recovered from seeing Lorca again, what he had seen. And it didn't occur to her until now that he had watched _them_. “What happens to him if the admiralty determines he saw too much? That he is evidence of time travel, just like we’re evidence of travel to another universe?”

“I’m pretty sure they just write off this ship as a giant mushroom trip and that none of you are actually sane.” He admitted. “Throwing my hat in the ring with you and Tilly in the ready room was like trying to play double dutch with my cousins.”

“I’m not familiar with that.” She said.

“It’s best if you look it up. Then imagine me getting my feet tangled in rope and whipped in the face with another rope.” Chris said. “Let’s just say, anyone with good sense is going to avoid asking for details about how things happened and just applaud the results.”

They laid in silence for a while but her mind was racing. No way she'd sleep tonight. She traced his chest with her finger, “Do you have pictures and video from your childhood? Of your family? You refer to your upbringing so much, I’d like to see it.”

“Are you asking to see pictures of my horses?” He asked, curiously. “Or to talk to my Mom?”

“I see a future with you,” She admitted. “And I have the present. I’m without context for your past and you reference it so much. I’d like to see that part of you too. I struggle with your references.”

“Yeah, I have some pictures. I wouldn’t mind a walk down memory lane.” He said, surprised by how she wanted to study him but, at the same time, understanding why. He knew her brother and her parents knew of him because of that. He had her at a disadvantage. Probably why he was trying to show her his religious side which had caused him to come under fire with his peers. This also meant she liked what she had seen. “Maybe some day bring you back so you can ride out in the desert with me and see it for yourself.”

“I’d like that.” She said. “I really would.”

“Not just as a way to see me in my natural habitat?” He asked with a smile.

“I really do find you fascinating.” She said. “I find myself enjoying things more with you. Everything is more enriching.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Is this about chess, sex, Tribbles or saving Starfleet officers from a hole in space-time?”

“All of it.” She said. “Your views, your experiences, your decisions….they make me see things in vivid color. In greater dimensions. I feel like I was the one caught on a flat plane of understanding, where logic and emotion were the two pulls of the universe. Then you came along and I realized there is so much more. There are layers. There is a multidimensional plane of thought for every situation and without you I can’t see it.”

He raised his eyebrows. That was deep. “ _Wow_.”

“The sex helps too. I do think clearer and with a more open mind when you’ve managed to shut my brain down for a while.” She added with a grin.

“I’m really going to fall pretty hard for you.” He said, feeling like he should warn her. “If I haven’t already.”

“We’ve just started dating.” She said and bit her lip, realizing that time didn’t seem to matter much anymore. Without hesitation she added, “Me too.”

“That’s heavy enough topic for one night.” He kissed her forehead. “We should eat dinner, if you can resist jumping my ass as soon as you look at me when I get out of the shower.”

“Refractory period says I have to.”

“Weird that’s turned into a survival skill.” Chris laughed and threw the sheets off them. “You can shower with me.”

Her eyes lit up. “You do have some good ideas.”

“Some?” He snorted at her, mocking offense. “ _Some_?”

“I also want to know how you failed Astro.” She sat up and watched him get out of bed, stretch and ruffle up his hair.

“My horse coliced.” He sighed. “Final exam was pass/fail and I was busy walking my horse at the stables waiting for him to shit or the vet to arrive.”

“I’m sorry, _you what_?” She wasn’t expecting that. He turned and leaned over the bed, his arms bracing him so he could lean close to her.

“I brought my horse with me to the academy.” He explained.. “Cost a fortune, but...I was looking at shipping out for a long time after I graduated and I didn’t want to miss out on any time I could get with Tango. He was fine, by the way. 10cc Banamine, a gallon of mineral oil and one impaction cleared from the pelvic flexure and he was back to himself pretty quick. I failed the class, but I wasn’t going to fail him. I’ll take the ‘F’, because it reminds me of my priorities and what I can overcome later if it doesn’t mean I compromise what I believe in. I also loved that horse and there was no question at all where I was going to be when he needed me.”

She felt her heart swell because that was an incredible thing to do for a pet. “I definitely need to see pictures.”

“Phillipa took one of me riding on the beach, believe it or not.” He said with a smile. “Nobody believed I brought a horse with me to school, despite the cowboy boots covered in horse shit.”

“You miss him.”

“Every damned day.” He admitted. 

“Shower, dinner and then pictures.” She said and leaned forward to kiss him. She couldn’t wait to see his world. He held out his hand for her and she took it, letting him drag her back off the bed with him as he stood back up, letting him pull her into his embrace and kiss her, before being lifted off the bed and set on the floor. She might fall pretty hard for him, but there was no way he’d let her fall. Same went for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably cursed myself by starting this fic because I now want to write the sequel. If you're wondering why May didn't appear, I figured that if a Tribble keeps Klingons away it might also keep fungus friends at bay. Plus this story got long enough and I have to return to my other WIPs who didn't appreciate me abandoning them.
> 
> This is my 'nobody died, everyone lies" fixit.


End file.
